RGB mods (Info for ordering NTSC Intellivision RGB board)

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jwo825
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RGB mods (Info for ordering NTSC Intellivision RGB board)

Post by jwo825 »

I recently picked up 2 favorites; a model 1 Intellivision and an Atari 7800. I have a PVM20L5 that I play all my other consoles on and I'd like to mod these as well. I know there are plenty composite and S-video mods out there but am having trouble tracking down RGB mods. I've used Voultar's boards on all my modded systems and love them. Could anyone point me in the right direction if there is someone currently producing similar boards for these consoles?
Last edited by jwo825 on Wed May 10, 2017 7:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.
jwo825
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Re: RGB mods

Post by jwo825 »

Tracked down the Intellivision mod. Still looking for an Atari 7800 solution if one exists.
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citrus3000psi
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Re: RGB mods

Post by citrus3000psi »

jwo825 wrote:Tracked down the Intellivision mod. Still looking for an Atari 7800 solution if one exists.
I have a french Atari 7800 with the native RGB output. By native I mean it converts the composite signal into RGB; so its composite quality over RGB.

Otherwise the best mod I've seen so far is a s-video mod by a guy named Bryan over on the atariage forums. I'm still hoping Tim will create a true RGB board.
jwo825
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Re: RGB mods

Post by jwo825 »

citrus3000psi wrote:
jwo825 wrote:Tracked down the Intellivision mod. Still looking for an Atari 7800 solution if one exists.
I have a french Atari 7800 with the native RGB output. By native I mean it converts the composite signal into RGB; so its composite quality over RGB.

Otherwise the best mod I've seen so far is a s-video mod by a guy named Bryan over on the atariage forums. I'm still hoping Tim will create a true RGB board.
Yeah, I've seen the s-video mods. I'm going to hold out doing that for a while as I really want everything I have in RGB. And the French model is not attractive at all, I would just as soon continue playing with a crappy picture on my little CRT than spend the money to mod and have crappy picture on the PVM.
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bobrocks95
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Re: RGB mods

Post by bobrocks95 »

It'll have to be a mod that taps the digital signals and recreates RGB, like Tim's boards, yeah. I'd assume for Tim it's based on what he has and wants to do, as in he wanted RGB for his NES or 2600 and made a board, then modified it and sold it. I don't know how big the crowd is for 7600's, so it might be a bit.
PS1 Disc-Based Game ID BIOS patch for MemCard Pro and SD2PSX automatic VMC switching.
jwo825
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Re: RGB mods

Post by jwo825 »

bobrocks95 wrote:It'll have to be a mod that taps the digital signals and recreates RGB, like Tim's boards, yeah. I'd assume for Tim it's based on what he has and wants to do, as in he wanted RGB for his NES or 2600 and made a board, then modified it and sold it. I don't know how big the crowd is for 7600's, so it might be a bit.
Tell him I'll buy him a 7800 if that's the motivation he needs to design it. lol
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tjstogy
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Re: RGB mods

Post by tjstogy »

Well he made the boards for the 2600 and I'm not sure how many people bought them, in comparison to the others. I've never seen anyone discuss it anyways. Btw- composite on a pvm 20l5 looks very good, so don't let it stop you from playing.
jwo825
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Re: RGB mods

Post by jwo825 »

tjstogy wrote:Well he made the boards for the 2600 and I'm not sure how many people bought them, in comparison to the others. I've never seen anyone discuss it anyways. Btw- composite on a pvm 20l5 looks very good, so don't let it stop you from playing.
If anything, I'll s-video mod it if I can't find an RGB solution within a reasonable time. I actually have Tim's NESRGB board and installed it so I have composite, s-video and RGB. s-video blows composite out of the water in terms of clarity and vividness of color. RGB is better than s-video, but not by as large a margin as s-video over composite. The main reason I'd like to find an RGB solution is so I can run everything through one switch. I also have all my audio going through a receiver so consolidating will help with cable management as well. It's still a nightmare, but every bit helps!
leonk
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Re: RGB mods

Post by leonk »

tjstogy wrote:Well he made the boards for the 2600 and I'm not sure how many people bought them, in comparison to the others. I've never seen anyone discuss it anyways. Btw- composite on a pvm 20l5 looks very good, so don't let it stop you from playing.
I've done many more nesrgb installs but surprisingly a handfull of 2600 rgb installs as well. The quality is as mind blowing as nesrgb!
jwo825
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Re: RGB mods

Post by jwo825 »

leonk wrote:
tjstogy wrote:Well he made the boards for the 2600 and I'm not sure how many people bought them, in comparison to the others. I've never seen anyone discuss it anyways. Btw- composite on a pvm 20l5 looks very good, so don't let it stop you from playing.
I've done many more nesrgb installs but surprisingly a handfull of 2600 rgb installs as well. The quality is as mind blowing as nesrgb!
I have done the NES RGB mod as well. Very well done. That's why I'm hoping a 7800 board eventually gets made.
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tjstogy
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Re: RGB mods

Post by tjstogy »

Leon-- that's good to hear. Wish more people would talk about it, cause it's like the standard definition of a retro console. Do you install them with the button on the controller that resets the console? Ya know, for use with the harmony.
leonk wrote:
tjstogy wrote:Well he made the boards for the 2600 and I'm not sure how many people bought them, in comparison to the others. I've never seen anyone discuss it anyways. Btw- composite on a pvm 20l5 looks very good, so don't let it stop you from playing.
I've done many more nesrgb installs but surprisingly a handfull of 2600 rgb installs as well. The quality is as mind blowing as nesrgb!
jwo825
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Re: RGB mods

Post by jwo825 »

I emailed Tim this morning and he got back to me really quickly. He said that the 7800 is a system he is planning to make an RGB board for. He stated he's about 90% sure he can do it and would like to get to it by the end of the year but couldn't make any promises on that. So there is hope!
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Re: RGB mods

Post by leonk »

I never had a customer ask me for the controller mod for 2600. It's a novilty more than anything else.

I typically install RGB, audio and upon request svideo. Palette button is so tiny I also add it.
mvsfan
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Re: RGB mods

Post by mvsfan »

A novelty? thats like the most important feature on the 2600rgb. it was always a pita to get up and hit reset on the console. same problem exists with the master system having the pause button on the console.
jwo825
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Re: RGB mods

Post by jwo825 »

OK, I was finally able to install my Intellivision board, but I'm having a problem. I'm getting great sound, but when I turn it on, I only get a picture for a few seconds. Then, the green goes away, followed by blue and lastly, red. I can cycle the power and only get a black screen after the first attempt. I can hear sounds great. In fact, I can start games and everything, just can't see any picture. After letting it sit overnight, it fired up with a brief picture this morning which quickly degraded as explained above. I think I have identified the problem, but wanted to run it by someone else first:

I am using this cable: https://www.retrogamingcables.co.uk/seg ... le-tv-lead

Signal is going to a PVM through a SCART switch. The switch is a straight pass-through, no conversion or anything going on there. I am thinking that, because the cable was designed for the Genesis2 and has attenuating resistors, that my signals are being attenuated twice and ending up too dark.

I'm no EE, so I just wanted to run that idea past the community to see if anyone thought that scenario was plausible before I start pulling resistors out of my cable.
jwo825
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Re: RGB mods

Post by jwo825 »

Update: FIXED!

It was either the resistors, capacitors or a combination of both. At lunch time, I removed the capacitors from the R, G, B and Sync lines to open the circuit on the SCART cable and then I jumped straight to the pins. Now, it works like a champ. Colors look good and I didn't notice any problems, artifacts, or anything during the few minutes I got to play. I'm under the impression that Fred Kono's board has all the attenuation figured out and the redundancy of resistors and capacitors in the RGB cable was throwing it off. Now I know that his board just needs a pass-through cable.
leonk
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Re: RGB mods

Post by leonk »

mvsfan wrote:A novelty? thats like the most important feature on the 2600rgb. it was always a pita to get up and hit reset on the console. same problem exists with the master system having the pause button on the console.
How lazy we got. ;)

I think even Tim pushes installers to a button on the console or on the controller (he only gives 1 button in the kit). I prefer to put it on console similar to how one installs switch on nesrgb.
jwo825
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Re: RGB mods

Post by jwo825 »

Just a small update. Here are a few pictures I took after the install. I still can't get the camera and lighting settings right to take good shots of the CRT, but the Intellivision looks amazing.

http://imgur.com/a/ixWIS


I have also spoken to Fred Kono again and he is gearing up to do another run on Intellivision boards. He told me it is OK to share his info here and you can reach out to him if interested. If you decide to share it also, please be mindful to help him avoid email spam as it's his personal account.

Fredkono(at)gmail
ldeveraux
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Re: RGB mods (Info for ordering NTSC Intellivision RGB board

Post by ldeveraux »

Sorry to drudge up a dead thread, but is there any news on the 7800 RGB mod? It's the only system I have left and wonder if Tim still had plans on building them?
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ApolloBoy
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Re: RGB mods (Info for ordering NTSC Intellivision RGB board

Post by ApolloBoy »

ldeveraux wrote:Sorry to drudge up a dead thread, but is there any news on the 7800 RGB mod? It's the only system I have left and wonder if Tim still had plans on building them?
I once spoke with Tim Worthington about it a couple of years ago and that was the last I heard about it. I'm hoping someone comes along and tackles it since it's now the only Atari console without an RGB mod.
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Re: RGB mods (Info for ordering NTSC Intellivision RGB board

Post by ldeveraux »

ApolloBoy wrote:
ldeveraux wrote:Sorry to drudge up a dead thread, but is there any news on the 7800 RGB mod? It's the only system I have left and wonder if Tim still had plans on building them?
I once spoke with Tim Worthington about it a couple of years ago and that was the last I heard about it. I'm hoping someone comes along and tackles it since it's now the only Atari console without an RGB mod.
In my deluded mind, seems like it should be similar to the 2600.
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citrus3000psi
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Re: RGB mods (Info for ordering NTSC Intellivision RGB board

Post by citrus3000psi »

Kevtris has the Maria chip design in VHDL. Maybe one day he'll release some of his work.
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Re: RGB mods (Info for ordering NTSC Intellivision RGB board

Post by viletim »

ldeveraux wrote:Sorry to drudge up a dead thread, but is there any news on the 7800 RGB mod? It's the only system I have left and wonder if Tim still had plans on building them?
I built a prototype version late last year. It didn't work, but I learned enough to get it right the second time. I then created a circuit diagram for the next prototype, but didn't finish the board layout.

I've been unproductive so far this year, due to almost no time for R&D. This is changing... I want to create new products.
ldeveraux wrote:
ApolloBoy wrote: I once spoke with Tim Worthington about it a couple of years ago and that was the last I heard about it. I'm hoping someone comes along and tackles it since it's now the only Atari console without an RGB mod.
In my deluded mind, seems like it should be similar to the 2600.
An Atari 7800 is a 2600 with a slightly faster CPU and an additional graphics processor called Maria. The RGB mod needs to work with this in addition to the TIA.
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ApolloBoy
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Re: RGB mods (Info for ordering NTSC Intellivision RGB board

Post by ApolloBoy »

viletim wrote: I built a prototype version late last year. It didn't work, but I learned enough to get it right the second time. I then created a circuit diagram for the next prototype, but didn't finish the board layout.

I've been unproductive so far this year, due to almost no time for R&D. This is changing... I want to create new products.
!

Let me know when you start working on it again, I'd be very happy to be a beta tester...
lilralphie
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Re: RGB mods (Info for ordering NTSC Intellivision RGB board

Post by lilralphie »

viletim wrote:I built a prototype version late last year. It didn't work, but I learned enough to get it right the second time. I then created a circuit diagram for the next prototype, but didn't finish the board layout.

I've been unproductive so far this year, due to almost no time for R&D. This is changing... I want to create new products.
This made my day for sure! I would LOVE to have an RGB solution for the 7800!!
ldeveraux
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Re: RGB mods (Info for ordering NTSC Intellivision RGB board

Post by ldeveraux »

viletim wrote:
ldeveraux wrote:Sorry to drudge up a dead thread, but is there any news on the 7800 RGB mod? It's the only system I have left and wonder if Tim still had plans on building them?
I built a prototype version late last year. It didn't work, but I learned enough to get it right the second time. I then created a circuit diagram for the next prototype, but didn't finish the board layout.

I've been unproductive so far this year, due to almost no time for R&D. This is changing... I want to create new products.
ldeveraux wrote:
ApolloBoy wrote: I once spoke with Tim Worthington about it a couple of years ago and that was the last I heard about it. I'm hoping someone comes along and tackles it since it's now the only Atari console without an RGB mod.
In my deluded mind, seems like it should be similar to the 2600.
An Atari 7800 is a 2600 with a slightly faster CPU and an additional graphics processor called Maria. The RGB mod needs to work with this in addition to the TIA.
This is amazing! I have your other RGB products installed, this would really complete the collection!
ldeveraux
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Re: RGB mods (Info for ordering NTSC Intellivision RGB board

Post by ldeveraux »

viletim wrote:An Atari 7800 is a 2600 with a slightly faster CPU and an additional graphics processor called Maria. The RGB mod needs to work with this in addition to the TIA.
Hey Tim, looking to upgrade my 7800 at this time. Are we closer to a commercial RGB for the unit, or should I go ahead and seek out an S-Video board?
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ApolloBoy
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Re: RGB mods (Info for ordering NTSC Intellivision RGB board

Post by ApolloBoy »

ldeveraux wrote:
viletim wrote:An Atari 7800 is a 2600 with a slightly faster CPU and an additional graphics processor called Maria. The RGB mod needs to work with this in addition to the TIA.
Hey Tim, looking to upgrade my 7800 at this time. Are we closer to a commercial RGB for the unit, or should I go ahead and seek out an S-Video board?
I'm also fixing for an RGB board since Rikki & Vikki is out and I've got an excellent condition spare 7800 that's ready to be modded.
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